Hand fishing by means of a fishing rod is a popular sport and relaxation. When fly casting is involved, the sportsman constantly uses the rod to cast about at various spots in the water seeking fish. No problem of holding the rod is created in this style of fishing.
When fishing is more a relaxation than a sport, the fisherman may sit on the shore or in a boat in one spot for hours and dangle his line in the water. When this is the method used, the fisherman may fall asleep and drop his rod in the water. Even if he is awake, if he is inattentive, a fish may take the bait and pull the rod from his hands.
In order to counter this, a fisherman may wedge his rod between convenient objects, i.e., boards on a dock, the branches of a tree, etc. This, however, provides him an unreliable means of holding the rod. For example, it may still fall out or it may be wedged so tightly that it cannot be retrieved in time to catch the fish. Thus it would be advantageous to have a fishing rod holder that securely holds the rod when the fisherman is relaxing, but which releases it rapidly when necessary in order to land a fish.